Men’s Soccer Readies for NCAA Finals at UT

The University of Tampa men’s soccer team will look to capture its
fourth national championship this week as the team competes in the NCAA
II Soccer Championship, which is being held at UT.

Both the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals will be held from Dec. 4-7 at UT’s Pepin Stadium.

UT
will face Cal State-Dominguez Hills in the men’s semifinals on Friday,
Dec. 5. A full listing of game times and ticket information is available
at the UT Athletics Web site. Each finals game will also be televised live on CBS College Sports.

UT
was chosen to host the championships, in part, due to the school’s
location in a warm climate as well as the high quality of its athletic
facilities and the athletic department’s experience in hosting
postseason events, said Gil Swalls, UT’s associate athletic director.

“All
of it combines to make for a good experience and an opportunity for us
to showcase our beautiful campus and athletic facilities,” Swalls said.
He added that UT’s soccer field was also renovated during the past
summer in anticipation of the championships.

UT men’s soccer
Coach Adrian Bush said the team recognizes that it is going in as an
underdog. “We are approaching this game just as we have each game this
year – one at a time.”

Bush credited a demanding game schedule and the team’s winning attitude
toward each game for their success in a year that brought 16 new players
after losing eight of 11 starters from last year’s team.

Thus
far, the Spartans have assembled a record of 18-3-1, marking a
consistent improvement in their overall performance since 2004. Most
recently, the team overcame a two-goal deficit against Tusculum College
for a 3-2 double overtime win in the national quarterfinals.

“It
is nice to come back home after being on the road for the last month
with elimination games on the line,” Bush said. “I know the community
and school support will be huge, but our players are the ones
responsible for getting it done on the field.”

Among UT’s star
players are Ryan Thompson, Dan Ingvarsson, Ryan Maxwell, and Pascal
Milien – all of whom received numerous honors throughout the 2008
season, including placement on the NCAA South Region Tournament Team.

UT
athletic teams have captured a total of 12 national championships, most
recently in baseball (2006, 2007), volleyball (2006), and women’s
soccer (2007). Men’s soccer has previously taken the national title in
1981, 1994 and 2001.